CL 9

CL 9 was a universal remote company started by Steve Wozniak, the inventor of the Apple I and Apple II computers. The company was in business for three years, from 1985 to 1988, coming out with the 6502-based CL 9 CORE remote control in 1987, the first universal programmable remote control.

Wozniak was working at Apple Computer as an Apple II engineer. While he enjoyed his work, he didn't feel he was making a valuable contribution since he was pulled out of the office so often to act as an Apple spokesperson. And Apple had become a big company, as Wozniak says:

At the same time, Wozniak had a myriad of electronic entertainment devices in his Santa Cruz mountain home, each controlled with a different remote control. Having to fiddle with so many remotes frustrated him, and he came up with the idea of inventing what is now known as a universal remote. While such a device has become commonplace, it was unheard of in the mid-1980s. The idea stuck with him, and after getting some friends interested, he decided to start a new company to build the device.

Wozniak decided to leave Apple to pursue his new venture, but stated that he "never felt like I was turning my back on my own company [Apple]." He told his boss' boss, Wayne Rosing, about his decision to leave, but not Apple co-founder and friend, Steve Jobs. In fact, the first Jobs heard about him leaving was from a piece in The Wall Street Journal. When Wozniak spoke to the reporter for the piece, he was very direct in pointing out that he wasn't leaving because he was disgruntled with Apple, but that he just wanted to build this exciting remote control. But the reporter nevertheless included some of his criticisms of Apple, which created some bad feelings. Wozniak says "it was an accident, but it's been picked up by every book and every bit of history [since]." Despite his leaving Apple, Wozniak remained a paid employee of Apple and remains one to this day, though he states he makes as little as a full-time employee can make at Apple; he continues to admire Apple products.

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